Surgical blade handle

ABSTRACT

A SURGICAL BLADE HANDLE THAT CAN ACCEPT BLADES INSERTED BY EITHER A RIGHTHANDED OR A LEFTHANDED PERSON, AND CAN ROTATE THE BLADE AT LEAST 180* IN THE PLANE OF ITS CUTTING EDGE. ONE TERMINAL END OF THE BLADE HOLDING MEMBER IS SPHERICALLY SHAPED AND IS RETAINED WITHIN A SOCKET END OF A HANDLE TUBE WHICH IS SLOTTED AND HAS THE FORM OF A PORTION OF A SPHERE. THE BLADE IS ANCHORED FIRMLY ON THE BLADE HOLDER, AND IS HELD SECURELY IN POSITION BY A CLAMPING ROD WHICH FORCES THE SPHERICAL END OF THE BLADE HOLDER INTO FIRM SEATED FRICTIONAL ENGAGEMENT WITHIN THE ROUNDED SPHERICALLY SHAPED SOCKET END OF THE HANDLE TUBE. THE BLADE HOLDING MEMBER MAY BE OF ONE PIECE CONSTRUCTION OF WHICH THE SURGICAL BLADE SNAPS INTO PLACE, OR IT CAN BE OF TWO-PIECE MATING JAW CONSTRUCTION WITH THE SURGICAL BLADE BEING CLAMPED INTO PLACE AND BEING EASILY REMOVED BY HAVING THE MATING JAWS SPRING LOADED TO URGE THEM APART.

06L 1971 R. c. BASSETT 3,609,864

SURGICAL BLADE HANDLE Filed Aug. 27, 1969 2 Sheets-Sheet].

INVENTOR. AOY C. fiflssfrr My?! m ATTOR/Vf) Oct. 1971 R. c. BASSETT 3,609,864

SURGICAL BLADE HANDLE Filed Aug. 27, 1969 2 Sheets-Sheet a United States Patent 01 3,609,864 Patented Oct. 5,, 1971 ice 3,609,864 SURGICAL BLADE HANDLE Roy C. Bassett, P.0. Box 102, West Redding, Conn. 06896 Filed Aug. 27, 1969, Ser. No. 853,368 Int. Cl. B26b 1/04 US. Cl. 30321 11 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A surgical blade handle that can accept blades inserted by either a righthanded or a lefthanded person, and can rotate the blade at least 180 in the plane of its cutting edge. One terminal end of the blade holding member is spherically shaped and is retained within a socket end of a handle tube which is slotted and has the form of a portion of a sphere. The blade is anchored firmly on the blade holder, and is held securely in position by a. clamping rod which forces the spherical end of the blade holder into firm seated frictional engagement within the rounded spherically shaped socket end of the handle tube. The blade holding member may be of one piece construction on which the surgical blade snaps into place, or it can be of two-piece mating jaw construction with the surgical blade being clamped into place and being easily removed by having the mating jaws spring loaded to urge them apart.

This invention relates to handle-holders for surgical blades, and particularly to handles capable of anchoring detachable surgical blades in angularly adjustable clamped positions.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION For many years conventional surgical scalpel handles have been designed to receive and anchor removable blades firmly in a single cutting position, extending longitudinally along the axis of the scalpel handle and forming a single cutting instrument with an elongated handle and coaxial elongated blade. In addition, conventional surgical blade handles customarily anchor the blade in a deformed, slightly bent condition, curved somewhat out of line and producing a resulting tendency for the blade to drift sideways during the surgeons incision. Also, a major disadvantage of conventional scalpel handles lies in their lack of versatility, because the scalpel blade cannot be adjusted at cutting angles diverging from the axis of the scalpel handle. These disadvantages seriously limit the usefulness of conventional surgical scalpels, and introduce undesirable inconvenience in the performance of surgical operations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The surgical blade holders of this invention are capable of positioning the surgical blade with its cutting edge extending at a predetermined angle, which may be adjusted through a range of at least 180 while still maintaining all of the sturdy rigidity and strength requisite in the surgical field. The surgical blade handle is comprised of two major component parts, clamped together by a third component part.

The first component is the surgical blade holder having a substantially convexly curved anchoring end, preferably spherical, and which may be either one piece or two piece construction. The one piece blade holder consists of a slotted finger-like stern member with a blade arresting bevel constructed so that blades may be inserted by a right-handed or left-handed person into a slot at one end of the holder stem. The two piece blade holder consists of two duck-bill shaped mating jaw members which effectively clamp the surgical blade between themselves when in the closed position. One terminal end of each duck-bill shaped jaw member comprises a section of a sphere, so that when the two jaw members are mated in the closed position a single, spherical-shaped anchoring end will result. The spherical section at the end of each member contains a small spring-receiving cavity. When the blade holder is in the closed mode, the two cavities will be cooperating but will have their center lines at an obtuse angle less than A single stifif helical coil spring has its opposite ends telescopingly seated in these blind holes or cavities, and the tendency of this spring to straighten itself provides a releasing force unclamping the duck-bill shaped blade holder jaws when the clamping rod is retracted.

The second component of these devices is a blade handle tube. One end of the tube has a concavely curved socket facing the bore of the tube, with the socket having a meridional slot. This provides for the plane of rotation and also constitutes the clamping surface for the spherical end of the blade holder. The other end of the scalpel tube is internally threaded to provide for the clamping and unclamping of the blade holder.

The third component of these devices is a clamping rod. One end of the rod is concavely shaped and is used to force and seat the spherically shaped anchoring end of the blade holder within the slotted socket of the blade handle tube and clamp the blade holder in the desired position. At the opposite end of the rod, an externally th'readed cap is formed. The threaded cap mates with the threaded end of the handle tube and provides the means for applying and releasing the clamping force on the blade holder. The rod also incorporates a laterally protruding spacer flange which prevents the rod from bowing during compression.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION Accordingly the primary object of this invention is to provide a surgical blade handle that is capable of pivoting support of a surgical blade over a substantial angular arc in the plane of the surgical blade.

[Another object of the invention is to provide a surgical blade handle that will accept surgical blades inserted by either a right-handed or afleft-handed person.

A further object of the invention is to provide a surgical blade handle that is easily disassembled for sterilization in an autoclave.

Another object of the invention is to provide a surgical blade handle that securely clamps a surgical blade and eliminates any possibility of play or wobbling during a surgical operation.

A further object of the invention is to provide a surgical blade handle facilitating easy removal and replacement of the surgical blade.

Another object of the invention is to provide a surgical blade handle that firmly secures the surgical blade without bending the blade.

Still another object is to provide a dual-jaw surgical blade clamping handle assembly actuated by twisting operation for readily detaching and replacing surgical blades therein.

Other and more specific objects will be apparent from the features, elements, combinations and operating procedures disclosed in the following detailed description and shown in the drawings.

THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a scalpel handle illustratmg one embodiment of the invention, with a removable scalpel blade being shown in position ready for installa tion thereon;

FIG. 2 is a greatly enlarged corresponding perspective view of the pivoting blade holder of this embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional side elevation view of the scalpel handle shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, taken along the plane 3-3 in FIG. 1, with portions thereof being broken away to show greater detail;

FIG. 3A is a fragmentary top view partially in cross section of the blade holder portion of scalpel handle of FIG. 3;

FIGS. 4 and 5 are successive, greatly enlarged, cross sectional end elevation views, both taken along the plane 44 shown in FIG. 3; and FIG. 5 shows the blade holder in the process of being inserted along the interior bore cavity of the scalpel handle tube from its remote end toward its seated position;

I FIG. 6 is a cross sectional side elevation view corresponding to the view of FIG. 3 showing a modified embodiment of the invention, with a blade holder incorporating two mating duck-bill shaped jaw portions, illustrated in their closed, bladeclarnping mode.

FIG. 7 is a further enlarged cross sectional side elevation view of the blade holder portion of the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, with the duck-bill clamping jaw portions thereof shown in their unclamped mode;

FIG. 8 is a cross sectional end elevation view taken along the plane 8-8 shown in FIG. 6 illustrating the clamped mode of the blade holder therein;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged top plan view partially in section taken along the oifset plane 99 shown in FIG. 6, illustrating the clamping mode of the device; and

FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view partially broken away showing the separate duck-bill jaw portions of the blade holder of FIG. 6 juxtaposed to a scalpel blade to be clamped therebetween.

In FIGS. 1 and 2 the blade holder is shown to include a slotted finger-like blade holder stem member 21, represented ready to receive a surgical blade 24. Surgical blade 24 is inserted in and held securely in position by lightly bending the blade so that the wider section of keyhole slot 25 lies on top of finger-like member 21, while the smaller section of keyhole slot 25 slides along slot 22 until the slanted or raked rear end 26 of the blade comes to rest against a V-shaped bevel wall 23. The V- shaped bevel wall 23 is constructed with two slanted faces 23A and 23B, respectively raked at obtuse angles, accommodating the angled end 26 of blade 24, so that blades may be installed by either a right-handed or left-handed person on the finger-like blade holder stem member 21. FIG. 1 also shows the slotted, rounded socket end 27 of the surgical blade handle tube 28 enclosing a concavely curved internal socket, and FIG. 2 shows the spherically shaped anchoring end 29 of the pivoting blade holder 20 seated in socket 27.

FIG. 3 clearly shows the clamping mechanism for the assembled pivoting blade holder, employing a clamping rod 30 having an exposed remote end cap 31. When the knurled cap 31 is turned in a clockwise manner, a threaded section 32 of clamping rod 30 integral with cap 31 rides in the internally threaded open end section of the handle tube 28, causing the clamping rod 30 to advance toward the spherical anchoring end 29 of the blade holder 20. When the clamping rod 30 is advanced to its fullest extent, the seat portion 30A of rod 30 forces the spherical end 29 of the blade holder 20 against the slotted concave socket end 27 of the scalpel handle tube 28, thereby firmly securing the blade holder '20 supporting blade 24 in the desired position. A spacer flange 34, more clearly shown in FIG. 4, protrudes laterally from rod 30 in sliding relation with the internal wall of tube 28, giving the clamping rod lateral support against buckling, and eliminating the possibility of the rod 30 bowing when in the compressed position, while still allowing the rod 30 to slide axially through the tube 28 without any interference.

When the knurled cap 31 is rotated counter-clockwise, the compression force of seat portion 30A is removed from the spherical anchoring end 29 of the blade holder 20, thereby allowing the blade holder 20 to pivot through an arc of at least until the neck 36 of the blade holder comes in contact with the end of the slotted socket 27, as shown in FIG. 3A. The blade holder 20 can pivot through an arc of at least 180 because the meridional slot in socket 27 extends the an arc of 180 plus the width of neck 36 of the blade holder 20.

The surgical blade is easily disassembled and reassembled in order to provide complete sterilization. To disassemble the surgical blade handle, one merely turns the knurled cap 31 counter-clockwise until the clamping rod 30 is completely withdrawn from the handle tube 28. Then by carefully tipping the handle tube 28 the blade holder 20 will slide out. To reassemble the device, the process must merely be reversed and FIG. 5 shows the blade holder as it easily slides through the handle tube 28.

In FIG. 6, a second preferred embodiment of the same invention is represented. The stem-and-concave-anchorend blade holder depicted therein is of a two piece construction, and clamps the surgical blade 24 between the two duck-billed mating jaw sections 37 and 38. As shown in FIGS. 6, 7 and 10, the spherical sector anchor end portions of both duck-bill shaped jaw sections 37 and 38 contain a small blind hole, respectively designated as cavity 37A and 38A, the center lines of which are in the same longitudinal plane but form an obtuse angle less than 180 degrees when the blade holder is in the clamped mode.

Jaw member 38 has an anchoring end which forms the major segment of a convexly contoured head, preferably spherical, which embraces a cut-out sector corresponding to a supplementary first minor head segment. Jaw member 37 has an anchoring end which forms a minor segment of a convexly contoured head, preferably spherical, occupying an angular sector corresponding to or slightly smaller than that subtended by the cut-out sector of jaw member 38.

A small, helical coil compression spring 39 has its opposite ends inserted within the holes 37A and 38A in order to provide a separating force for the two duckbilled jaw sections 37 and 38. To secure a surgical blade 24 in position, the surgical blade 24 is positioned on duck-bill shaped section 38 so that the small forward end of keyhole slot 25 is abutting the slanted wedge key 41 projecting upward from jaw 38 toward the overlying jaw 37. Then, as shown in FIG. 7, duck-billed jaw sections 37 and 38 are manually clamped together so that wedge 41 fits into a mating recess 42 in upper jaw 37 and a second wedge 43 fits into a similar second mating recess 44 in upper jaw 37. Both wedge keys 41 and 43 are formed with a diagonally slanted undercut leading edge 41A and 43A respectively, and both recesses 42 and 44 are provided with a mating slanted undercut leading wall 42A and 44A respectively. This produces a camming angular pivoting clamping of the blade when the clamping rod 30 advances to cause longitudinal advancing movement of lower jaw 38 relative to upper jaw 37. The jaw members thereby lock together when in the clamped mode, eliminating any possibility that the jaw members will separate and the blade will be dropped during use.

Having inserted and manually clamped the blade in position as depicted in FIG. 7, this locking action is achieved by turning the knurled cap 31 clockwise so that the clamping rod 30 advances towards the spherical section of duck-billed member 38 until the uppermost rim edges of the anchoring ball-shaped ends of jaws 37 and 38 are brought into contact while spring 39 is being compressed. Further advance of clamping rod 30 causes the uppermost rim of the rearwardly and upwardly projecting anchoring end of lower jaw 38 to advance forward, urging the contacting rearmost rim of upper jaw 37 forward, causing sliding pivoting rotation of upper jaw 37 counterclockwise and bringing the clamping faces of the jaws toward each other into the clamped mode shown in FIG. 6.

As indicated in FIGS. 6 and 7, when the clamping rod 30 is being turned clockwise, the concave end of the rod forces the major spherical section of jaw member 38 forward longitudinally toward the slotted socket 27. This longitudinal movement of jaw 38 relative to jaw 37 produces a camming angular pivoting clamping of the blade 24 by forcing the diagonally slanted undercut leading edges 41A and 43A into contact with and downward along the mating slanted undercut leading walls 42A and 44A, respectively.

The anchoring ends of jaws 37 and 38 are dimensioned to reach firmly seated engagement within socket 27 simultaneously, assuring firm clamping of the blade 24. Since the spherical sections of jaw members 37 and 38 are in mating contact only at their rims at point 46, both the camming rotation of jaw 37 relative to socket 27 and the camming sliding engagement of projections 41 and 43 in recesses 42 and 44 serve together to clamp and lock blade 24 between the facing clamping surfaces of jaws 37 and 38, with the spherical sections of both jaw members secured in frictional engagement against the slotted concave socket 27, as shown in FIG. 6. FIG. 8 shows how the surgical blade 24 is inserted for secure clamping between duck-billed jaw members 37 and 38. The wedge 43 prevents any lateral wobbling of the blade during surgery, while the recess 44 is deeper than the height of mating wedge projection 43 so that the clamping force is exerted only on the blade.

In the top view of FIG. 9, the spherical sections of duck-billed jaw members 37 and 38 are shown in the clamped mode. Their rim contact at the point 46 assures that the clamping forces act upon the surgical blade and upon the slotted socket 27. The compression force of the spring aids the camming locking action of undercut leading edges 41A and 43A to assure that the clamping force is transmitted directly from rod 30 via the flat jaw clamping surfaces to blade 24.

FIG. 9 also shows the angular blade pivoting that is obtainable with this embodiment of the invention. When the blade holder is in the unclamped mode, the jaw members 37 and 38 can be laterally pivoted through an arc of at least 180 until the jaw members come in contact with ends 35 and 35A of the slotted socket 27. The slot in socket 27 extends through an arc of 180 plus the width of the neck of the jaw members, thereby assuring that the sugical blade can be pivoted through an arc of at least 180. When the blade holder jaws are placed in the desired angular position, a blade may be inserted and the entire assembly clamped together, ready for use.

When the knurled cap 31 is turned counter-clockwise the compression forces are removed and the bent helical spring 39 attempts to return to a stright position, thereby tending to align the two blind holes 37A and 38A coaxially, forcing the duck-bill shaped jaw sections 37 and 38 to separate until section 37 comes in contact with the upper edges 47 of the slotted socket 27. This provides for easy removal and replacement of surgical blades from between the jaws 37 and 38.

While the mating spherical blade holder and socket surfaces provide excellent operating characteristics, different mating pivot-socket shapes may be used if desired. If the anchoring end of the blade holder is a solid of revolution symmetrical about a pivot axis perpendicular to the desired pivoting plane of the blade, a mating concave socket with a meridional slot extending around it in the blades pivoting plane provides the required freedom for pivoting blade adjustment, clamped by clamping rod 30.

Since the foregoing description and drawings are merely illustrative, the scope of the invention has been broadly stated herein and it should be liberally interpreted so as to obtain the benefit of all equivalents to which the invention is fairly entitled.

What is claimed is:

1. A detachable surgical blade handle comprising:

(A) a handle tube having one blind end formed as a concavely curved socket facing the bore of the tube, and having an opposite enlarged and internally threaded open end;

(B) means forming a meridional slot of uniform width passing through the blind socket end of the tube;

(C) a surgical blade holder movably positioned for insertion through said enlarged open end and trans lation movement along the slot and incorporating (l) a blade holding stem extending outwardly through the slot, and (2) a substantially convexly curved anchoring end pivotally engaged in the socket; (D) and a clamping rod telescopingly movable axially within the tube and having (1) a concave clamping end frictionally engage able with the convexly curved anchoring end of the blade holder, and (2) an externally threaded end threadedly engageable with the threaded open tube end whereby angular relative movement of the anchoring end in the socket moves the blade holder stern angularly, and threaded advance of the rod in the tube clamps the stem in any selected angular orientation relative to the tube and whereby said blade holder is retained against inadvertent detachment from said handle tube.

2. The surgical blade handle defined in claim 1, wherein the rod is provided with a spacer flange protruding laterally therefrom between its ends for aligning sliding engagement within the tube, for minimizing bending of the rod and for maximizing the clamping force.

3. The surgical blade handle defined in claim 1, wherein the concave socket is substantially hemispherical, and wherein the anchoring end of the blade holder is substantially spherical in external contour.

4. A surgical blade handle as defined in claim 1, wherein the meridional slot extends around the socket over an angular arc exceeding degrees by at least the angular width of the blade holder stem extending therethrough, whereby the surgical blade is capable of being pivoted over at least 180 degrees.

5. A surgical blade handle as defined in claim 2, wherein the rod, the spacer flange, and the convexly curved anchoring end of the blade holder all have external diameters less than the internal diameter of the handle tube, whereby easy disassembly and reassembly is provided.

6. A surgical blade handle as defined in claim 1, wherein the blade holder incorporates a V-shaped blade arresting bevel wall facing the blade holding stem, whereby the surgical blade handle is adaptable for mounting blades conveniently by either right-handed or left-handed persons.

7. A surgical blade handle as defined in claim 1, wherein the blade holder is comprised of two mating clamping jaw members incorporating alignment key means cooperatively positioned therebetween, and having a separated unclamped mode and a juxtaposed clamped mode, and means forming a blind hole in each .clamping member Within which opposite ends of a single helical jaw-opening spring are contained, said blind holes having axes angularly offset by an obtuse angle in the unclamped mode of the jaw members, said axes being angularly offset by a smaller obtuse angle in the clamped mode of the jaw members, whereby the clamping jaw members will be urged apart by the jaw opening spring when blade removal is desired.

8. A surgical blade handle as defined in claim 7, wherein the facing clamping surfaces of the jaw members are substantially flat, whereby the surgical blade is installed and clamped in position without bending between the facing clamping surfaces.

9. The surgical blade handle defined in claim 8, wherein the alignment key means include a protruding key projecting from one clamping surface for engaging a mating slot in a surgical blade and a mating key-receiving recess formed in the facing clamping surface.

10. The surgical blade handle defined in claim 9, wherein the key is formed with a diagonally slanted undercut leading edge and the recess is provided with a mating slanted undercut leading Wall, whereby relative longitudinal movement of the jaw members produces camming angular pivoting clamping thereof.

11. The surgical blade handle defined in claim 7, where in the jaw members are separable and relatively movable apart angularly and also in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the handle tube, and wherein one jaw member has an anchoring end forming a major segment of a convexly contoured head positioned within the socket 8 and embracing a cut out sector corresponding to a supplementary first minor head segment, with the second jaw member having its anchoring end forming a minor segment of a convexly contoured head subtending an angular sector smaller than that subtended by said cutout sector.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 835,160 1l/1906 Lutz 30320 X 904,990 11/1908 Powers 30 -320 X 1,213,133 l/1917 Poister 30336 2,215,125 9/1940 Maltz 30-339 ROBERT C. RIORDON, Primary Examiner J. c. PETERS, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 30339 

